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| sultation, at 5 (Aug. 2015). 834 Ibid. 835 Daniel Ahn & Rodney Ludema, Measuring Smartness Understanding the Economic Impact of Targeted Sanctions Office of the Chief Economist, US. Department of State, Working Paper 2017-01, Dec. 2016. Max Seddon & Elaine Moore, Russia Plans First Bond Issuance Since Sanctions Finan- cial Times, Feb. 7, 2016. son. 828 In addition, CAATSA mandated sanctions on US. or foreign persons that engage insignificant transactions with persons related to Russia’s defense or intelligence sectors. 829 Furthermore, CAATSA targets corruption inside Russia by mandating sanctions on people who make or facilitate investments of at least $10 million that contribute to the privatization of Russian state-owned assets in a manner that unjustly benefits government officials, relatives, or associates. 830 Beyond CAATSA, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act also allow, respectively, for the sanctioning of Russian individuals who are complicit inhuman rights abuses or corruption (see Chapter Canada and some European countries, notably the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Estonia, have also passed similar Global Magnitsky Act legislation to sanction human rights abusers and corrupt actors. 832 While it is difficult to differentiate the economic impact of sanctions from the drop in oil prices and other macroeconomic effects, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated in 2015 that US. and EU sanctions and Russia’s retaliatory ban on agricultural imports reduced GDP in Russia over the short term by up to 1.5 percent. 833 Over the medium term, IMF models suggest that sanctions could reduce output by up to 9 percent, as lower capital accumulation and reduced technology transfers further weaken productivity growth. 834 Economists from the US. State Department calculated that, relative to non-sanctioned firms, the average sanctioned company in Russia saw decreases of one-third of its operating revenue, over one-half of its asset value, and about one-third of its employees. Their research also suggested that lower oil prices had a larger impact on Russia’s overall economy than sanctions. 835 Even though Mr. Putin has complained that sanctions are severely harming Russia when it comes to accessing international financial markets, the sanctions mostly affect state-owned companies and do not prohibit the government from selling bonds to Western investors. Furthermore, the Russian government can ease sanctioned firms access to financing by lending them money raised from bond sales in international capital markets. 836 The US. Treasury Department is required to report in early 2018 on the possible effects on Russia’s economy of sanctions on sovereign debt, which could have the potential to foreclose external sources of funds. While the head of Russia’s central bank believes that there won’t be any seriously negative consequences from such sanctions, VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00153 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 148 Andre Tartar & Anna Andrianova, Bond Sanctions Could Hurt Russia More Than It’s Letting On Bloomberg Markets, Nov. 27, 2017; Andrew Biryukov & Natasha Doff, Russia Says Its Debt Markets Can Withstand the Shock of Sanctions Bloomberg, Nov. 16, 2017. Broadcasting Board of Governors, Mission https://www.bbg.gov/who-we-are/mission (visited Jan. 4, 2018). Government Accountability Office, U.S. Government Takes a Country-Specific Approach to Addressing Disinformation Overseas, at 32 (May 2017). In November 2017, as retaliation for the US. Department of Justice’s request that RT reg- ister under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Duma passed a law that allows Russia’s Ministry of Justice to add foreign media outlets to Russia’s registry of foreign agents, so long as the organizations are based outside of Russia and receive funds from abroad. Shortly thereafter, Russia’s Ministry of Justice sent a letter to Current Time threatening to restrict its activities because it shows the signs of performing the function of a foreign agent Russian officials also suggested that VOA, CNN, and Germany’s Deutsche Welle could face similar treatment. ‘‘Russia’s Justice Ministry Warns the U.S.-Government-Funded Media Outlet ‘Current Download 0.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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